Johanssen AU
by uperFan
Summary: What if it was Johanssen that was left behind on Mars. Will she be able to survive or not? Has permission from author of Lady of the Fountain Alexandra926!


**Just an AU because what the hell, everyone does them, and I have a lot more from different movies coming. Most of them are only going to be slightly different, but whatever. Here you go chapter 1 the is heavy inspired by the story Lady of the Fountain by Alexandra926. Enjoy!**

"Good Afternoon."

Sanders had on his usual solemn expression as he addressed the media. However, unlike so many other times he spoke, today his voice lacked the dry humor he always seemed to have, Kapoor noted. Teddy collected his notes given to him minutes earlier by Annie Montrose, he looked in the general direction of the cameras and began the dreaded press conference.

It was not a good afternoon.

Even as the press leaned closer to exorbe the information the Teddy will give them, they all know why they are here. All they want is more details.

Vincent sighed and looked at the floor studying the patterns of the tile, willing the press conference to be over.

The actual blow came hours earlier when an already dangerous situation spun wildly out of control.

An emergency evacuation. Total mission scrub. It was unheard of. No precedent for was just an unlikely situation in the mission book, that's all.

But the MAV was tipping over. They'd had no choice. Or if they did, there is no changing what happened. Commander Lewis had taken her best guess, shedid what she had to in order to keep her crew safe.

History won't care about how strong the storm was, or the science behind anything we wished to accomplish on the Ares missions, the reasoning behind the evacuation, or that Lewis had made the best choice of action with the information she had. Window dressing.

There was no doubt in Vincents' mind that the Ares III, the entire mission, and maybe the entire program as a whole would now be forever tainted by the fact that they left their crewmate behind.

_Dead._

The first astronaut to die on the surface of Mars.

History would remember that the 16th person to walk on the surface of Mars had also died there.

The news had swept through Johnson Space Center like a different type of storm.

Kapoor sighed and shifted from one foot to the other as Teddy, at the podium, described the series of events that brought them here.

To this. NASA's first causality in 30 years. It didn't seem real.

News had leaked out almost instantly, they were a public organization after all. But no one had the full story except for the people briefed by Lewis after they made it to the Hermes.

They can't have secrets. Not legally. This was a dangerous business.

They had a whole campus of grieving souls. What would have been the point of a gag-order? It wouldn't have stemmed the tide, or changed any facts.

"And so at 5:15 Eastern Standard Time," Teddy was concluding, "After the storm had escalated, the decision was made to conduct an emergency evacuation." For a brief moment Sanders closed his eyes, and Kapoor could see the tightening of his jaw and understand the true weight he bore on his shoulders. But he continued, impassively, "Astronauts Lewis, Martinez, Beck, Vogal, and Watney made it safely to the MAV and were able to rendezvous with The Hemes, and are coming home."

Kapoor held his breath, he didn't like to hear the words any more than Sanders liked to say them.

"Unfortunately during the evacuation Astronaut Beth Johanssen was struck by debris and killed."

Gasps could be heard throughout the crowd and the reporters quickly ate up the new information.

The crew couldn't find her body, carried away, the gods only knew how far by the storm, which had cause visibility to become near zero. Commander Lewis had attempted a brief search, but Johanssen's EVA suit had immediately lost it's uplink that should have remained strong for several kilometers.

Maybe the debris had destroyed the sensors in her suit when the loose satellite dish had hit her, taking her life in an instant.

When he stopped to consider this for a moment he was glad the crew was spared from seeing their fallen crewmate. They just didn't have time to look, the 90 seconds hadn't made much of a difference, and for that Vincent was grateful.

Sanders didn't stop to take any questions despite the many requests from reporters, even as Monstrose had primed them, but didn't stop them from asking. He took his notes and abruptly left the podium, head bowed, with slumped shoulders, and empty eyes. He brushed by several department heads who knew better than to try and stop him.

He was taking this personally. They all were. But none more so than Mitch Henderson, who stood at the back of the room with dried tears. He felt as if it was his fault, that he should have done something for her, the crew was his responsibility.

Everyone in one way or another had contributed to this mission. Whether it be large or small. They had all put the crew in harm's way, and now the worst had happened.

The very worst.

_There is no going back for this, _Kapoor thought. The repercussions from Johanssen's death would be felt for years to come, no doubt.

Maybe one day they could learn what had happened and fix the problem to help protect their people. One day it would be truly safe for astronauts to travel the stars with no complications.

Today was not that day.

All they really knew was that they had 5 of the crew had survived; But Johanssen who was so gifted and strong willed and bright with so many ideas that could help so many, was gone.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

That irritating beeping was what woke me up. Everything hurt so much. I was trapped in this thick blackness. Slowly I shifted and a pang of pain went through me. I was breathing hard, my torso felt shattered.

_What happened _I thought. The last thing I remember was the storm.

The storm. The one Mark tired fighting Commander Lewis over which action to take. I remember walking, being hit, then nothing.

I groaned as I shifted in the sand again. I opened my eyes and blinked against the harsh sunlight. I could see the HAB, still standing as if nothing bad had happened. I couldn't see the MAV anywhere.

_They thought I was dead, they left without me._

That realization it was forced me into action. No one was coming to help. No Beck and his stupidly cute, I'm-Doctor-Beck voice, or his concerned eyes I always seem to get lost in. Nobody.

I pushed myself up slowly and checked my suit to stop the beeping. I was dangerously low on oxygen, I needed to make it to the HAB. I started forward only to be stopped by an excruciating painful tug back. I looked down and saw a piece of metal sticking out of my side, I looked over to see what was holding me back only to be horrified to see the communication satellite I had set up with Martinez.

I frantically grabbed at the knife on my belt and cut the wire attached to it. After I was free I quickly got back up and limbed toward the HAB while I tried to get my breathing under control. I had to stop several times to catch my breath, but I made it with only a few minutes to spare.

I pulled the lever and opened the door and closed it behind me. Distinctly I heard the familiar sound of our basic AI say "**Pressure Stable." **as I moved to open the other door.

Once inside I took off my helmet, gloves, chestplate, and head sock. I looked down at my injury, it was really bad. You don't need a professional to tell you that much, but I knew enough first aid from my training and being around Beck to make this work for me.

_This is going to hurt, _My brain added unhelpfully.

I took a few quick deep breaths before ripping the small rod out of my torso. I let out a scream of pain, very appropriate at the time I say. I put my hand over the wound as I made my way over to Becks workstation, I took off my EVA suit as fast as I could without making the injury worse than it was. I was left in the skin tight blue layer we wear underneath.

I took a pair of scissors and cut myself free of the top part of the blue spandex leaving me in only my sports bra. It quickly began to bleed again and I grabbed a piece of med gaze to stop it. I took a plate of med tools and sat down with a small mirror aimed at the hole in my torso.

I picked up the thingy that helps isolate the area of damage and lifted the gaze to punch it into my skin. Then I grabbed the pair of retractors and opened the deep cut open a little more and took the pair of forceps that are not supposed to be used for medical purposes and used them to reach in and grab the piece of metal that was left inside me.

I let out a few gasps and groans, I'm sure, but I managed to get it out. I let out a deep exhale and put the gaze back to stem the blood flow as I held the metal piece I just remove up to the small rod it was attached to.

I let out a deep breath and dropped the small piece of metal into a nearby cup. I took the staple gun and slowly closed up my wound. I let my head fall back and hit the table behind me with a thump.

"Fuck."

**That's chapter 1 people I really hope you ****enjoyed****, and I will update as soon as I can because there are ****a lot**** of other stories I want to get started. Let me know what you think! Until next time.**


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